There are countless forms window coverings. Common window coverings include honeycomb blinds, venetian blinds, drapery systems, and roller shades to name a few. Motorization and remote control of these various window coverings is an increasing trend. Motorization and remote control of these window coverings provides countless advantages and benefits. Namely, multiple window coverings can be opened and closed with the single press of a button, multiple window coverings can be programmed to open and close with the moving sun and changing seasons to improve energy efficiency, aesthetics and comfort, and window coverings positioned in inaccessible places can easily be opened and closed, among countless other advantages and improvements.
While motorizing window coverings provides many advantages, there are disadvantages. One disadvantage is that opening and closing of window coverings has a tendency to generate static electricity due to the fact that most every shade material is an insulator. It has been seen, especially under certain environmental conditions, that this build-up of static electricity has a tendency to discharge and affect the electronic components of the motorized window covering through an electrostatic discharge event (ESD event).
ESD is the sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown. A buildup of static electricity can be caused by tribocharging or by electrostatic induction. The ESD occurs when differently-charged objects are brought close together, or close enough together, or when the dielectric between them breaks down, often creating a visible spark. An ESD event is also known as a high voltage low current transient.
ESD can create spectacular electric sparks (thunder and lightning is a large-scale ESD event), but also less dramatic forms exist which may be neither seen nor heard, yet still be large enough to cause damage to sensitive electronic devices. Electric sparks require a field strength above approximately 4 kV/cm in air, as notably occurs in lightning strikes. Other forms of ESD include corona discharge from sharp electrodes and brush discharge from blunt electrodes.
ESD can cause a range of harmful effects of importance in industry, including gas, fuel vapor and coal dust explosions, as well as failure of solid state electronics components such as integrated circuits. These devices can suffer permanent damage when subjected to high voltages. Electronics manufacturers therefore establish electrostatic protective areas free of static, using measures to prevent charging, such as avoiding highly charging materials and measures to remove static such as grounding human workers, providing antistatic devices, and controlling humidity. However, such protective environmental steps cannot be taken in the normal application of window shades, leaving motorized window shades extremely susceptible to ESD events.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, there is a need to provide a system that helps to prevent ESD events from affecting the electronic components of motorized window shades.
Thus, it is a primary object of the invention to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that improves upon the state of the art.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that quickly shunts ESD events to ground early in the circuit thereby protecting the downstream electronic components from damage.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that protects against a broad range of ESD events.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that is inexpensive.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that is easy to install and use.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that is usable in any form of motorized window covering.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that is durable.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that has a long useful life.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that has an intuitive design.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that has a minimum number of parts.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that does not impede or inhibit use of the motorized window covering.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that does not reduce the sensitivity of any receiver or transceiver.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that is a passive system and does not require any additional steps to be taken by the user or installer.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that does not interfere with the user experience related to the product.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an ESD protection system for window coverings that does not require maintenance.
These and other objects, features, or advantages of the invention will become apparent from the specification and claims.